About

THE SECRET NUMBER // short film

$12,166

pledged of $10,000 goal

179

backers

WHAT'S THE DEAL?

This Kickstarter campaign will fund the production of the short film "The Secret Number". It’s a quirky, darkish psychological drama based on an original short story by Igor Teper. I'm making this film as my senior thesis at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Here’s the logline: A psychiatrist is compelled by his patient, an obsessive mathematician, to consider the existence of a secret integer with far reaching implications.

Tomlin, a psychiatrist working at a mental hospital, has a disturbing session with one of his patients-- a brilliant mathematician named Ersheim. Driven by a singular obsession, Ersheim seeks to prove the existence of ‘bleem’-- a secret integer between three and four. Initially skeptical, Tomlin is unsettled by the idea. Over the course of 24 hours, the idea nags at him, causing him to question his preconceived notions of logic and reality.

Moviemaking is pretty complex, and takes a great deal of resources. Even though we’ll be working with volunteers and getting a lot for free, we need a budget set aside for the following items:

• CASTING. We’d like to be able to cast professional actors, and likely bring them in from out of town. That means airfare and lodging for the duration of the shoot. One of the larger items in our budget.

• TRANSPORTATION. We’ll have to rent a truck to move our equipment and will likely need to relocate the crew multiple times during the shoot.

• PRODUCTION DESIGN. We need to bring the world of the script to life. That means bringing in props and furniture to flesh out the environments, fashioning the right clothes for our cast and even building sets for areas that we can’t film on location.

• LOCATION FEES. Finding the right locations will be critical to realizing the look of the film. In addition to shooting permits, we may need to rent a space, hire security, and pay for insurance.

• CATERING. We’d like to keep our crew hydrated and well nourished. They’ll be volunteering their time and effort into this film - the least we can do is provide sandwiches and snacks.

• MUSIC. The tone of this film is delicate, and rests entirely in the hands of our composer. We’d like to score this film right - and that will likely require the recording of live instrumentalists.

• EQUIPMENT RENTAL. Fortunately, most of our equipment will be provided by our school. However, we’d like to be able to rent some additional lenses, larger lights, and special grip equipment.

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WHAT’S THE TIMELINE FOR THIS PROJECT?

Right now we're in pre-production. We're going to be working throughout the duration of the Kickstarter campain-- scouting locations, casting, storyboarding, doing camera tests.

Our shoot dates are locked for early February, and postproduction will likely take us into May of 2011.

If you want to follow our progress be sure to check out our production blog. We'll be posting concept art, production stills, and video updates for public access.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. If you can’t help support us financially, consider throwing the link up on Facebook or Twitter-- we need as many eyes on this Kickstarter project as possible.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 250 or more
About US$ 250

Softcover professionally-bound production book with behind-the-scenes photography, concept art, production stills, and final frames from the film. And for Blender/Sintel fans, get a personalized Blender tutorial on a topic of your choice. Plus all of the above rewards.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge US$ 500 or more
About US$ 500

Whoa. What would you like? Have a personal, one on one video session with the filmmakers. This can be a Q & A, a critique of your own work, a script reading, or maybe just a friendly chat. Get an Executive Producer credit in the finished film, plus the above rewards.